Kingsland Minerals (ASX: KNG) moves toward first drill test at Lake Johnston

Kingsland Minerals has expanded lithium soil anomalies across its Lake Johnston project in Western Australia, with +200ppm Li₂O anomalies extended from the previous program and extensive +100ppm Li₂O anomalies identified over the project area. The latest campaign covered most of the company’s 890sqkm landholding and follows earlier exploration that identified lithium anomalies and historical nickel drilling that intersected pegmatite dykes but did not assay for lithium or associated elements.

While the project remains at an early stage, the latest dataset provides further evidence of a potential hard rock lithium source nearby and is now being used to plan future drilling. Kingsland Minerals Managing Director Richard Maddocks spoke with MarketOpen to further discuss what changed in this program, how the company is sequencing exploration spend and what investors should watch next at Lake Johnston.

You’ve expanded both the +200ppm and +100ppm Li₂O anomalies. Why does that increase your confidence in a hard rock source?

The latest program materially expanded our understanding of the project because it moved beyond the anomalies identified in 2024 and provided broader coverage across the Lake Johnston area. Previous soil sampling had already delineated lithium anomalies, and this latest campaign has extended the +200ppm Li₂O anomalies while also identifying extensive +100ppm Li₂O anomalies across the project area.

That matters because the results provide further evidence of a potential hard rock lithium source nearby. The project area hosts greenstones interpreted to be part of the nearby Lake Johnston Greenstone Belt, which is a recognised source of hard rock lithium and nickel mineralisation.

We still need to identify the hard rock source itself, and that is why planning is underway for maiden drilling and potential geophysical surveys. The important point is that the latest work gives us a stronger basis for that next phase than we had before this program.

This remains a surface geochemistry story. What needs to happen before you commit capital to maiden drilling?

The key shift from this program is that we now have broader project wide coverage and stronger anomaly definition, which gives us a more informed basis for making that decision. Across the 2 campaigns, we have taken 3,099 soil samples and covered most of the 890sqkm project area, which has materially improved our understanding of where the strongest lithium signatures are emerging.

What we need to do now is move from identifying surface anomalies to improving our understanding of what sits beneath them before allocating drilling capital. The release is clear that we are assessing whether these anomalies are linked to hard rock lithium mineralisation in fresh rock, and that remains the key objective of the next phase.

We are currently planning drilling and potentially geophysical surveys to better understand the fresh rock geology and determine the source of these anomalies. That sequencing allows us to focus drilling on higher conviction targets rather than drilling too early across a large land position.

Historical drilling intersected pegmatites but never tested for lithium. How much does that de risk the project today?

It provides an important piece of supporting evidence, but we are careful not to overstate what it proves. Historical drilling completed by previous explorers was targeting nickel rather than lithium, but it did intersect pegmatite dykes within our tenements, and those intervals were never assayed for lithium or associated elements at the time.

That matters because it confirms that pegmatite dykes have been observed in historical drilling within the project area. When combined with the expanded surface lithium anomalies from our recent soil programs, it gives us a more informed exploration model than relying on surface geochemistry alone.

That said, historical drilling does not confirm lithium mineralisation. What it does do is help narrow our focus and reduce some early stage uncertainty as we move toward more targeted follow up work.

You’ve now sampled most of the 890sqkm project area. How do you make the next phase more targeted from a capital allocation perspective?

The advantage of completing broad early stage coverage is that it allows us to become far more selective from here. This latest program was designed to assess project wide lithium potential, and by covering most of the 890sqkm landholding we now have a much clearer view of where the strongest anomalies are concentrated.

That means the next phase does not require broad based spending across the entire project. We can focus capital on areas where the geochemical results are strongest and where the release indicates there may be a relationship between Li₂O contours, underlying structures and lithologies shown in magnetic data.

From here, the release outlines a more focused approach involving drilling and potentially geophysical surveys aimed at identifying the source of the anomalies. That is a disciplined progression because each step is designed to improve targeting precision before larger drilling programs are considered.

From anomaly to testable target

Kingsland Minerals has now completed the broad screening work needed to move Lake Johnston into a more targeted phase of exploration. The next step is to use the soil sampling results, geological setting and available geophysical data to refine drilling locations and test whether the lithium anomalies are linked to mineralisation in fresh rock. For investors, the next meaningful milestone is whether planned drilling and potential geophysical work can convert widespread surface evidence into a defined hard rock lithium target.

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